General Court/Court of First Instance

Lockstep

How's it going folks,
Was wondering if one of ye could explain exactly what the EU's General Court does (formerly Court of First Instance).

Still a bit hazy on its exact function(s).

Thanks!

Scofflaw

kickoutthejams wrote: »

How's it going folks,
Was wondering if one of ye could explain exactly what the EU's General Court does (formerly Court of First Instance).

Still a bit hazy on its exact function(s).

Thanks!

While we tend to think of the ECJ as the court that decides on matters of European law - and therefore the court that renders judgement in all matters of European law, in fact there is a division of jurisdiction between the ECJ itself and the General Court, and the General Court also has a subsidiary court (or Judicial Panel) - the European Union Civil Service Tribunal.

The General Court hears:

• direct actions brought by natural or legal persons against acts of Community institutions (addressed to them or directly concerning them as individuals) or against a failure to act on the part of those institutions, for example, a case brought by a company against a Commission decision imposing a fine on that company;
• actions brought by the Member States against the Commission;
• actions brought by the Member States against the Council relating to acts adopted in the field of State aid, ‘dumping' and acts by which it exercises im-plementing powers;
• actions seeking compensation for damage caused by the Community institutions or their staff;
• actions based on contracts made by the Communities which expressly give jurisdiction to the Court of First Instance;
• actions relating to Community trade marks;
• appeals, limited to points of law, against the decisions of the Civil Service Tribunal.

The rulings made by the Court of First Instance may, within two months, be subject to an appeal, limited to questions of law, to the Court of Justice.

The ECJ, on the other hand, hears:

• actions for failure to fulfil obligations - actions brought (almost invariably by the Commission) against Member States for failure to fulfil obligations arising under EU law
• actions for annulment - annulment of a measure (regulation, directive or decision) adopted by an institution
• actions for failure to act - actions concerning a failure to act on the part of a Community institution, where it has been called upon to act
• applications for compensation based on non-contractual liability - claims for compensation based on non-contractual liability, and rules on the liability of the Community for damage to citizens and to undertakings caused by its institutions or servants in the performance of their duties
• appeals on points of law from the General Court

If you like, you can think of the General Court as mostly handling cases by the Member States against the EU, and the ECJ as handling the reverse.

The General Court has one subsidiary judicial panel, which handles disputes between the EU and its civil servants - another such panel is under consideration, covering patents.

Cases may be appealed from the General Court to the ECJ only on points of law, and cases may be appealed from the tribunal(s) to the General Court only on points of law.

Good overview of the General Court here: http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/eulaw/court-first-instance/

cordially,
Scofflaw